Live to Fight Another Day
by InkWoven
Summary: As fans begin losing interest in the Tournament, Master Hand makes a dramatic change in the gameplay to boost ratings, sparking terror in the Smashers.  Probably going to be lots of Zelink, but won't be the main focus.  Critique greatly appreciated.


**Hello dear reader. This is InkWoven with her third fanfic. The beginning might be a little cheesy, but just keep reading through! It gets better, I promise. I would love it if you gave any little bit of advice you have hovering in your mind, but please refrain from flaming... Nobody likes flames... Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy this!**

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><p>A young woman stood by a large column, watching the couples dance and twirl in each other's arms. She felt a strong sense of longing, but for what she didn't know. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a young man asking a woman to dance. Maybe that's what she wanted: someone to take the time to ask her to dance, maybe even spend the night with her. A certain young man's face popped up in her mind. Surprised, the young woman shook the thought out of her head. They were only friends, after all. Although, lately she had been feeling something strange each time she saw him. Yet, she couldn't place the feeling.<p>

"Hello, Princess," said a deep, melodic voice from behind the young woman. She spun around in surprise.

"L-Link! How nice to see you!" She stuttered, "Are you having a nice time?"

"Sure, but I've been looking for you all night! Why do you hide behind something every time you go to a party?" Link asked, somewhat exasperated.

"I, well, I don't know... It's kind of overwhelming," Zelda responded, looking away, "I never really feel comfortable around people unless I get to know them. Wait, you've been looking for me all night?"

"W-well, I, uh... Yeah," Link said, blushing. Zelda looked away again, trying to hide the red rising in her cheeks.

Offering his arm, Link said, "I have something to show you. Come on!"

Zelda took Link's arm and walked to the Christmas tree. The candles were placed strategically on the tree to prevent a fire, as was Zelda's specialty. Tinsel and glass ornaments adorned the limbs, and beautifully wrapped presents littered the ground beneath the evergreen branches. It was tradition in Hyrule to attend the Christmas Eve Ball at the castle, and take your gifts from friends and family home with you at the end of the night. Link bent down and picked up a small, rectangular box from under the tree and placed it in Zelda's gloved hand.

"For you, Princess," Link said with a smile.

"Th-thank you, Link. I wish I had brought something for you, but I left all the gifts for my friends at the Mansion." Zelda mentally kicked herself for forgetting the gifts at the Smash Mansion as well as stuttering around Link.

"That's okay, Zelda. It's the thought that counts," Link replied, grinning at the thought of Zelda thinking of him.

The music diminished to applause. Zelda stifled a yawn.

"I think I will get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day," Zelda said. She began to walk into the castle.

"Wait, Zelda!" Link called. She stopped, looking over her shoulder at him.

"Can I walk you to your room?" Link asked, blushing at his sudden outburst. Zelda smiled.

"I would love that."

Again, Zelda took Link's arm, and he walked her back to her room.

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><p>"Zelda!" A strident voice shouted from behind. Zelda turned around to see her friend Princess Peach of Mushroom Kingdom running up to her. Toadsworth was trotting behind Peach, carrying her heavy luggage and trying to keep up.<p>

"Hello, Peach," said Zelda enthusiastically, "How was your Christmas vacation?"

"It was wonderful!" Peach exclaimed as the two walked up to their rooms, next door to each other. "On Christmas Eve, I danced, like, all night with a ton of different suitors! One of them was so tall, he, like, had to slouch to reach my waist, and this other one kept stepping on my feet, but he did it so gently that I, like, almost think he was doing it on purpose. Oh! And I got this, like, absolutely _gorgeous_ bracelet from Mario, and you won't _believe_ what Toadsworth did with my tea the other day…" Zelda smiled as she listened to her friend chatter on about suitors, presents, and her dress. Mushroom Kingdom certainly sounded similar to Hyrule in terms of royal activities, but when Zelda went to see it, the kingdom was rather unusual. Gone were the open fields where everybody loved to ride on horseback, replaced with cute little houses strange creatures that looked like giant balls of black metal with faces and mushrooms with huge eyes and small fangs that waddled sideways. But now, both Peach and Zelda were back at the happy medium, Smash Mansion.

"Well, I have to go unpack. See you at, like, dinner!" Peach waved goodbye.

"Alright. I will see you then," Zelda replied, walking into her room.

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><p>Once all her things were unpacked, Zelda decided to catch up on her training. Concentrating on the battle rooms, she threw her hands above her head, tapping into her magic. A bright ribbon twirled around her body amidst a haze of green and, spinning her gently, transported her to the battle rooms.<p>

Zelda landed gracefully on the Bridge of Eldin stage. It looked exactly like it was in Hyrule, right down to the castle in the sunset. Just looking at the castle reminded Zelda of the Christmas Eve Ball. She absentmindedly fingered the necklace Link gave her. It was a simple gold chain with a sapphire shaped like a teardrop landing in the hollow of her throat.

Suddenly, Zelda heard a horn far to her left. Crouching slightly, she turned her head and narrowed her eyes. Hoof beats pounded on the well-worn rock, and the king of the bublins began racing across the bridge on his boar. About halfway across, he dropped a bomb, just begging to be detonated. A much smaller bublin, trying to keep up with his master, stupidly ran right into the bomb, effectively destroying the middle of the bridge.

Her heart racing with adrenaline, Zelda gracefully leaped over the galloping boar, twirling midair to clear the king's sharp horns. Fighting was Zelda's only escape from her insecurities. Every time she jumped, slid, or sent an opponent back with a powerful blast of magic, she finally felt confident. She almost felt like she was flying.

_Boom! _Zelda spun around, eyes wide, to find her friend Samus, standing there in her power suit, her canon charged with power. _Boom! _Samus let another charge ball fly out of her arm canon.

Grunting, Zelda summoned Nayru's Love, and blew Samus's attack back at her. Samus's body lit up with the electricity from the ball, and she shouted,

"It's on!"

Zelda merely smirked and narrowed her eyes. Sprinting forward, Samus went to kick Zelda, but at the last second, Zelda stepped aside, brought her hands above her head, and disappeared in a coat of magic. Samus stared at Zelda's figure in confusion. _What the heck is she doing? _She thought.

Emerging from the iridescent, shimmering blanket was someone Samus had never seen before, but her presence was warm, just like Zelda's. Blonde bangs, not unlike Samus's, covered one side of the person's face, which was covered up with a cloth. She wore a long, tight-fitting suit, similar to Samus's Zero Suit, but a deeper blue and a red eye with a teardrop coming from it was on the chest.

Still staring at the newcomer in shock, Samus was blasted into the air by a fast-moving blow to the legs. As Samus thumped to the ground, the newcomer vanished in a burst of smoke, and reappeared on Samus's left.

"Zelda?" Samus asked in confusion. The newcomer's intelligent red eyes glinted in amusement.

"Who else? Although, in this form, I'm called Sheik," she replied. Samus just gawked at her.

"But you mustn't tell anyone about this. It's my 'secret weapon,'" Sheik said, "I plan to use this form as the tournament progresses in order to catch the enemy unaware. What do you think?"

"Man, you've _got_ to show me how to do that!" Samus exclaimed. Sheik smiled.

"Maybe." She replied. Pivoting on one foot, Sheik brought her fists, full of magic, around her body. The shimmering cover of light reappeared on her body, and Zelda reemerged from it just as Samus's stomach let out a loud growl. Zelda laughed.

"Want to join me for some lunch?" She asked.

"Sure," Samus replied, still surprised at what just happened, "Just let me change out of my power suit."

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><p>"... Makes me much more agile…" Zelda said, rounding the corner with Samus, now in her Zero Suit.<p>

"Dang, that makes me wish I had saved my Zero Suit for the tournament, like you're doing with Sheik," Samus responded, "Everybody already knows my moves in my Zero Suit. Even Snake, and he's got to be the dumbest person walking the earth!" Zelda giggled.

As they entered the dining room, the pair found all the Smashers gathered around the table.

"There they are!" Peach exclaimed. Samus and Zelda glanced at each other in confusion.

"What's going on?" Samus asked.

"Apparently, Master Hand has some humongous news to tell us," Snake grumbled, "I still don't see why it couldn't wait 'til morning. I've still got this damn hangover."

A large hand floated into the room. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

"Finally! You two definitely took your sweet time," Master Hand said impatiently from the head of the table, "Let's just get this over with. We are going to start the Third Super Smash Bros. Tournament on Friday. What you really need to do is fix the rating drops. Nobody wants to see a bunch of idiots kicking each other off a stage unless there are blood and tears involved. This means less money for me, and you know how much I hate that." If Master Hand had eyes, all the Smashers would be melting from the heat of his glare, "So, a friend and I have agreed on the best way we can get our ratings back," Master Hand twitched in satisfaction.

"From now on, the Super Smash Bros. Tournaments will be a fight to the death."

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><p><strong>Okay! Yes, I know the beginning was pretty cheesy, but practice makes perfect. And I'm still practicing. It might just be my subconscious brain, but this kind of popped up one day as I was craving a few chapters from <strong>**The Hunger Games****. So I guess you could say this is indirectly inspired by ****The Hunger Games****. If you have any advice at all, please don't hesitate clicking that button! Thanks!**


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